Well, if he didn’t count his trust issue. But Kinsley wasn’t at all like Hailey. She would never leave him in a lurch. She would never agree to marry him unless she planned to fulfill her commitment. If not, she would turn him down at the proposal, even if she knew her rejection would hurt him. Because she also knew the heartache he’d gone through with Hailey and understood that his proposal was the time to say no, not the day they were to be married.
At least, he had to believe that she would handle things far differently than Hailey had done. Now, he only had to figure out what he was going to say to her once they were alone.
Kinsley sat with Dev in his ER room. His request for her to accompany him to the room shocked her. Leaving the others in the waiting area, he’d held her hand as they walked down the hallway to his room. He seemed sad to let go when the nurse instructed him to lie down so she could take his vitals.
She remained at his side while he met with the doctor but had to stay back when he went for a CT scan. She spent the time praying that he hadn’t sustained a serious injury. He was in pain. She could see it in the strain on his face. For the trip to Portland, she’d wanted him to lie down in the backseat instead of driving. But this was Dev. The man who would go the extra mile to make sure she and his family were safe. With six people to evacuate and each with a suitcase, one vehicle wasn’t enough, so they’d taken two. Colin, Brooklyn, and Sandy rode in one, and Dev, Jada, and Kinsley in the other.
They really didn’t want to drive as far as Portland but had found zero hotel vacancies anywhere closer. They ended up calling on the Veritas team to put them up in condos that team members had vacated to find family homes.
“Hospitals are so good at developing patience in their patients.” Dev grinned. “Seems like we’ve spent more time waiting than anything else.”
“I’m just glad we came to Portland, where we know the hospital is top-notch and there are experts to weigh in on your injury.”
He waved a hand. “I’m sure the spear didn’t do any serious damage, or there would’ve been more blood and pain.”
“You can’t be sure of that. And there’s got to be bacteria in the lake water which can’t be good for the wound.” She got up from the hard chair and stood by his bed to look him in the face. “You know it doesn’t hurt to admit when something has slowed you down and you need rest.”
His eyes narrowed. “I agree. But in this case, I have to fix things because I created a mess.”
“You?” She stared at him. “What did you do?”
“It was my responsibility to find the person who was trying to kill you and stop him. I failed. Failed big time. On one of the most important jobs of my life.”
“And now you feel guilty and think you have to make up for it.”
“Something like that.”
“Does that mean that because you see I have feelings for you, you asked Jada to drop her ultimatum?” She shoved her hand into her hair. “That you’re going to ask me out, as a pity date?”
“What?” He shot up in his bed and winced, then shifted off his hip. “No. Not at all. I’m in love with you. I have been for years. Since you didn’t see it, I guess I did a good job of hiding it. But not from Hailey. That’s the real reason she wouldn’t marry me. She knew I still had feelings for you.”
“Oh…oh. I-I didn’t know.” She clutched the chain hanging around her neck—the skeleton necklace that matched Jada’s skeleton.
“Well, now you know.” He reached for her hand and pulled her to sit on the bed, then took both of her hands in his. “With Jada removing her ultimatum, we’re free to start dating.”
“Sort of, yeah.”
He frowned. “What do you mean sort of? Don’t you want to date? ’Cause you’ve been putting out vibes that say you return my feelings.”
“Oh, you picked up on the right vibes, all right.” She paused, uncertain about saying this for the first time. “I love you. Just as much as you love me.”
He tilted his head. “So what’s the problem with dating, then?”
“I live here in Portland. You live in Shadow Lake. Nearly four hours apart. What kind of dating relationship would that be?”
He frowned. “We can work that out, can’t we?”
“You obviously can’t leave your job, because you have to be in Shadow Lake to do it. I can do my job from anywhere, but since I have to travel so often, being close to an airport would be nice.”
“I wouldn’t want you to make the drive to PDX all the time. It would be unfair to ask you to do something like that, when I didn’t do a thing to compromise.”
“I don’t know,” she said, gnawing on her lip as she thought. “I do travel a lot, but maybe with the cost of living being less in Shadow Lake, I wouldn’t need to have the same income and could reduce the number of jobs I accept.”
“It still means you would be making all the sacrifices.” He searched her gaze. “I’m not sure I like being responsible for making you change your life for me. You might come to resent me.”
“I don’t think that ever could happen.” She made sure to give him a sincere smile. “Let’s think about it, and see if we can come up with a solution.”
“Sounds like a plan.” He looked disappointed for sure.
So was she. After Jada removed her ultimatum, Kinsley thought she and Dev would fall into each other’s arms tonight, but one more obstacle stood in their way. She could change it. Easily. Just move to Shadow Lake and change jobs. But give up a career that she had gone to school for so many years to achieve? Had worked part-time jobs to help pay for living costs? Had sacrificed her personal life and sweated over the difficult coursework?
Was she ready to let that go, to spend the rest of her life with Dev? She almost gave a sharp laugh, but held it back.
She finally had what she’d wanted for years. A life with Dev was in reach, but was the sacrifice too great? Could anything be too great to spend the rest of her life with the man she loved?
A question only she could answer, and right now, she just didn’t know.
